<p>We want to use part of the Spring break (late March) for campus visits. However, DD will take her SAT I in March 10 so we will not have the latest test score. Should we wait until Summer when we have SAT and her junior year grades to do the visit?</p>
<p>Go for some visits. The goal would be for your junior to have a sense of large vs small, public vs private, urban vs less urban, etc. You might not even go to schools DD will ultimately apply to...but you get the idea. Most would advise that visiting when schools are in session is better than summer (we did both types of visits...my kids didn't seem to notice the difference!). Go in March...don't wait. This gives you time to either do additional visits on weekends or during early summer or fall.</p>
<p>If you have time I would do a few visits in March. thumber1 is right a lot of the first visits just give you an idea of what you're looking for in type of school. We just stuck to schools we could make a day trip out of but if you're on a vacation it's always fun to visit schools in that area too. Also, my kids didn't notice the difference as to time of year either. The final decisions were based on our accepted student open houses and all worked out!</p>
<p>I would advise that if at all possible your family visit when schools are in session. My D loved the interaction with the kids when she visited. The students would come up to us and ask if we had questions and tell us why they loved their school. They reflected back to when they were pre-frosh and looking. We were able to ask questions concerning issues that admission staff might not give complete answers to.</p>
<p>I agree that you don't need to wait for test results. The initial focus is to have D read Princeton Review, go on college website to learn about schools, try to figure out what she is interested in. Geography, size of school are critical for kid's comfort level. </p>
<p>Have your D go on CC and make friends at different schools .My D did that and we made arrangements to meet the CC kid who gave us personal tours and had lunch with us. It really personalized the visits. Then when final list is made have your D do overnights if you can afford a second visit. Dana's Dad</p>
<p>This may sound stupid. What do you visit campus for? I will imagine many kids went to university w/o visit first. </p>
<p>My understanding for the main purpose is to meet with school admission and financial people so we can get inform while impress them personally. </p>
<p>We have seen plenty of school campus. DD even had a three week stay at Marshall U when she was in GSA. Most of them does not have a great deal of difference. She is not at all interested in doing any visit.</p>
<p>Definitely start visiting now. Only 1 of the 20 schools we visited (Goucher) wanted grades, test scores, etc. for the interview. The first 5 colleges we visited, during Feb break junior year, were all within driving distance, so we made a big loop around the Northeast. S decided not to interview at any of these schools because he was just starting to learn what he liked and didn't like, what questions to ask, etc. Besides, only one of those schools (Sarah Lawrence), would have been willing to interview a HS junior. We visited 6 Midwest campuses during April break. By this time, S had a much better idea of what he was looking for and interviewed at most of these schools.</p>
<p>In the summer we did 2 more trips, to the West Coast and Mid-Atlantic states. He interviewed at most of these schools. He definitely felt he got less of a sense of what the student body was like during summer visits. When he finds out where he's accepted, I expect he may want to re-visit some of these.</p>
<p>I can't say strongly enough how helpful these visits were in clarifying for my son what he is looking for. In fact, the whole search and application process has taught him a lot about himself.</p>
<p>So, most people can't/don't want to visit 20 campuses, but any amount you can do, I would encourage. I hope it's as much fun for you as it has been for our family.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>My understanding for the main purpose is to meet with school admission and financial people so we can get inform while impress them personally.>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>NO...the main purpose IF you go for preapplication visits, is to get a sense of the school, tour the facilities, and sit in on an info session. Some schools do have interviews for juniors with an adcom, and others do not. Finaid will have virtually NO interest in your kid until they have applied and gotten accepted. AND remember that vast numbers of students come for visits, many more than even apply. The year DS matriculated at BU, there were over 28,000 APPLICANTS, and many many more who came to visit and decided NOT to apply. The visitors did not "impress them personally". And in fact the adcoms who do the interviews are very often not even INVOLVED in the admissions process. It's nice to do an interview for information's sake...and sometimes it does give you kid a sense of the personality of the school (e.g. DD scratched two schools because she thought the adcoms were snotty; DS scratched one school because the adcom wouldn't answer any of DS's questions). Many kids do not visit colleges before acceptance. Many do. DD was applying to schools FAR from home. We insisted she visit them simply because they were SO far away. And both of our kids did accepted student days AFTER acceptance at their top choice school(s).</p>
<p>The main purpose for campus visits is to figure out whether the student likes the school and the area -- or, in more general terms, whether the student likes the general type of school and general type of area that she is visiting.</p>
<p>The student can use this information, in combination with other types of information, to help make decisions about whether to apply to the school.</p>
<p>In these types of preliminary visits, you do not usually talk to admissions and financial aid people one on one (although you might do so at a very small college). Instead, you go to an information session and take a tour (check the college's Web site for the schedule and to see whether you need to sign up in advance). If possible, your student might also wander around and talk to students, and you and your student might eat in a dining hall. Sometimes, it is possible for the prospective student to attend a class, too. If your student has special interests, it might be possible to meet with the people responsible for those programs (an athletic coach, an orchestra director, etc.) if you arrange it in advance. You might also want to take a look at the neighborhood around the campus. </p>
<p>A visit can really be helpful to a student's decision-making process. For example, when my daughter and I visited Johns Hopkins, she got a very negative impression of the area surrounding the campus, and she didn't like the fact that the admissions officer and tour guide both emphasized the importance of scientific research as opposed to all other interests. She knew by the time we left Baltimore that she would not apply to Hopkins. On the other hand, when she visited Cornell University, she felt very comfortable there (if you ignore the fact that it was the hottest day of the year!). She liked the campus and the town, and unlike many students, she did not find Cornell to be intimidating (she doesn't intimidate easily anyway). She said that she could easily see herself attending Cornell, and she saw no reason to cross Cornell off her list. After obtaining other information from many sources, including Cornell's Web site, books about colleges, College Confidential, conversations with alumni, and a visit by a Cornell admissions officer to our area, Cornell became her first choice, and she ended up applying and being accepted Early Decision. </p>
<p>I should add, though, that the impression the student receives on a visit is not the only factor that he or she should consider when choosing colleges. For example, when my son visited the University of Delaware, he got a very positive impression of the place -- much more positive than the impression he received when he visited the University of Maryland. However, after he was accepted at both colleges, he chose to go to Maryland for a reason that had nothing to do with the visit. He chose Maryland because it has a better program in the subject in which he planned to major, computer science. He is now a junior at Maryland, still studying computer science, and he is happy with that decision. So visits aren't everything. They're just one of many sources of information.</p>
<p>Laserbrother, I should add that I am concerned about the fact that your daughter doesn't want to do any college visits. I think this may reflect a desire to not have to think about colleges at all. She may be feeling intimidated about the whole college application process right now.</p>
<p>Thumper is exactly right. You do NOT visit campus to meet admissions and financial people, not at this stage. You visit so your D can get an idea of what the campus environment is like, take a tour, listen to the info session so you can hear how they present the school, and maybe sit in on classes and talk to current students. It is a chance for your child to get a feel for the school and whether it would be a good place to apply and possible attend: it is NOT an exercise in impressing those who might admit that child the following year.</p>
<p>Some schools will offer on-campus interviews; our school told our kids NOT to take those if they were visiting before senior year. These are often not with admissions reps, but with current students working with Admissions. Your D will fill out a visit card in Admissions to indicate she's been there, then an admission rep may give the info session, and a student will give a tour. Financial aid people, as thumper says, will not want to talk to you until after your child has been admitted. It's not uncommon, as thumper says, for students to wait to visit some colleges until after the know where they've been admitted. That's what my younger S has done: he visited a few to get the feel of them, then applied, then as acceptances come in, he'll plan a visit to those he hasn't seen where he has been accepted (and possibly a return visit to a school he's seen once, just to see if it's the right place for him still).</p>
<p>It's about your D and how she feels about the school, not about impressing anyone. If you insist on meeting admissions and financial aid folks on your exploratory visit, you may impress them in a way you're not expecting. (Think "pushy parent".)</p>
<p>As I said, though, some colleges will give interviews to juniors. Grinnell, Oberlin, Beloit and Macalester all gave him interviews, 3 of them with admissions reps and all of them invited us (parents) in after the interview to ask questions and just chat a little. And one admissions rep (Beloit) told us our son would definitely get a nice merit scholarship if he applied. My son has done about 15 interviews and all but one (Pomona) were relaxed and enjoyable. It worked well for him to look around some before starting to interview.</p>
<p>Notice that all four of the schools where bethievt's son interviewed are small liberal arts colleges. The pattern seems to be that interviews are offered to visitors at small liberal arts colleges but not at large universities. In fact, if your daughter applies to large universities, she may never have an interview, or if she does, it may be with a local alumni representative, and alumni interviews generally don't count for much in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Based on your daughter's PSAT and ACT scores, you can make a pretty good approximation of what her SATs will be, and your daughter's scores will most likely be excellent. You definitely should not wait to make visits.</p>
<p>Remember too, it is important to visit a range of schools -- safeties, matches and reaches. In fact, it is probably more important to visit safeties and matches. Some schools these days will not accept a qualified student if that student has not shown any interest, and making a visit is the one way to show interest. Remember the CC mantra: love your safety.</p>
<p>Another reason to visit schools is that it helps when doing the application. My daughter was able to refer to her visit -- the classes she went to, the professors she met, the students she talked to -- in her "why college x" essays. A visit gives you a sense of the school that you don't get from a website, that helps you tailor your application to that school.</p>
<p>Another bonus is getting to meet with professors or coaches. If you make a good impression, they may go to bat for you with admissions. That didn't happen with my daughter, but she enjoyed talking with professors, and those conversations helped her figure out whether a school was a good fit.</p>
<p>I agree with all those advising college visits in the spring of junior year. We've done that with 2 kids so far, and it has proved both helpful in their deciding what kind of college they want to apply to, as well as being a fun time to spend with your kid.</p>
<p>On the SAT score question, I'd advise taking several practice tests before the March administration of the SAT. Although this won't give you an official score you can tell the colleges, it will give you an approximate idea of whether your DD would be in the running for any particular college. </p>
<p>In our experience, 1 kid's SAT went up 150 points (old test) between junior and senior year, the other kid's SAT went down 60 points (new style). So for college visits you can always aim a little higher than the first SAT test might indicate, both to see what variety of colleges are out there and what might be feasible if the SAT scores go up a lot on the second attempt.</p>
<p>Before you visit the schools check their academic calendars and make certain they are not on break. Also, check with the admissions office and make certain they will be open - many admissions office have limited hours as they get closer to admission deadlines as staff are reviewing applications.</p>
<p>Check the admissions websites - many require that you make a reservation for information sessions and student led tour. These fill up quickly as you are just one of many families looking at colleges during your student's winter or spring break.</p>
<p>Keep in mind many colleges are concentrating on visits from their accepted students and visits from high school juniors may be more restricted.</p>
<p>Another thing to ascertain: will the school in question be hosting an admitted students day when you want to visit? If so, I suggest going at another time. This happened to us last year at Mary Washington. We scheduled a tour/info session online and arrived half an hour early to find parking, as recommended; however, all (and I do mean ALL) the parking was already occupied, and we saw huge droves of kids and parents walking across campus. I phoned the admissions office, and the receptionist said she wasn't surprised we couldn't find parking, given that there had been such a response from accepted students.</p>
<p>Most schools don't do tours on accepted student days, but some do - I'd always check that possibility out for spring visits.</p>
<p>We did 5 visits whilst on summer vacation with rising Senior D and rising Junior S. The only colleges they had previously seen were on tv. These visits really brought home to them what going to college could mean..they could or could not picture themselves at the colleges and in my son's case gave him extra motivation to study! Would definitely recommend a visit with or without sat score info; its not necessary for the tour.</p>
<p>thank you all. </p>
<p>So, we may do UPenn and Princeton or UChicago and UWSTL. WIll cover OSU and Case in some weekends later.</p>
<p>We used spring break last year to look at three California schools (Stanford, Berkeley and Caltech). Stanford had a waiting list for tours and information sessions, even though we signed up a several weeks ahead of time. Luckily space opened up. To some extent son confirmed that he didn't care about big or little, private or public, as he had maintained all along. OTOH it was obvious from about five minutes on campus that Caltech was a great fit for him - same quirky sense of humor, same geek t-shirts etc. Caltech's campus was prettier than ever and the town more lively than it used to be. Stanford seemed very isolated. Berkeley seemed better for someone a bit more independent than I think my son is at this point. My only regret is that if I'd done more homework ahead of time, I would have also had him visit Harvey Mudd while we were at it.</p>
<p>If your kid cares about location visits are essential. I think you can also get some idea of campus culture. My kid though was not one to grab kids and ask questions, so I don't think he learned as much as another kid might.</p>
<p>My DS1 found out after a couple of campus tours that what he really wanted to see was a class in session in his intended major. This rules out summer tours at many places, but he thought sitting in would give him a good sense of intangibles. Remember to check the college schedules -- their break schedules may differ from your DD's spring break schedule.</p>
<p>OP
be advised that colleges have Spring Break weeks during March.You will want to check the schedules of the schools you are interested in.While there may be tours,info sessions etc,most students won't be on campus so if seeing the student body is important to you ,you may want to schedule accordingly.</p>